Williams says he's happy to be goneBy Tom Silverstein / journalsentinel.comPosted: March 1, 2008There was no way Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson was going to pay defensive tackle Corey Williams the money he wanted, so his options were to make Williams play for the one-year, $6.363 million franchise tender or trade him for the best offer he received. Thompson didn't blink and sent Williams to Cleveland for a second-round pick in a trade that was reported Thursday night but became official Saturday after all the paperwork was completed.

"I don't know if anybody was trying to win the deal," Thompson said Saturday. "I think it was probably a good deal for the Browns and I think hopefully it will be a good deal for us."

Now for the third time since becoming general manager in 2005, Thompson goes into a draft with three of the top 60 picks, this time with an opportunity to cash in on one of the deepest drafts in some time. The temptation will be to use his two second-round picks to move up from 30th in the first-round to get a potential star player. But he can also put the Packers over the hump with those three picks the way Ron Wolf did in 1995 with the selection of Craig Newsome, Brian Williams and Antonio Freeman.

"I'm not talking about that," Thompson said of whether he would like to move up in the first round. "You like having more picks, but we gave up a pretty good player, too. I think there will be players who warrant being picked there. The only question is whether we're good enough to find them."

Thompson turned three picks in the top 58 in '05 into Aaron Rodgers, Nick Collins and the now-retired Terrence Murphy. In '06, he turned three picks in the top 37 into eight selections that netted him A.J. Hawk, Daryn Colledge, Greg Jennings, Jason Spitz, Will Blackmon and Johnny Jolly. This time, building depth isn't as important as finding core starters for either this year or the very near future.

"You want all your picks to be good," Thompson said. "You sweat over every one. You'd like to get good players with these picks."

It became apparent early on in negotiations with Williams that the numbers were too high for the Packers, and rather than let him go to free agency, they slapped the franchise tag on him, requiring any team interested in signing Williams to give up two first-round picks in compensation.

Williams clearly was not happy with that decision or the Packers' choice not to give him a lucrative long-term deal. "I wanted out of Green Bay and I'm glad Cleveland called me," Williams said during a news conference in Cleveland. "I feel like I am wanted here. It feels like home to me, and I've only been here one day. I already feel like I got the love that I have been looking for. I'm happy and excited about it."

Asked why he sought a ticket out of Green Bay, Williams said, "There's a bunch of different reasonsand I don't care to talk about it right now. I just wanted out."Williams' agent, Blake Baratz, said he had a pretty good idea what Williams would fetch on the open market, and the Packers' offer wasn't close. He didn't know if Williams would be forced to play for the one-year tender, but Thursday he was informed he had permission to negotiate with Cleveland on a long-term deal. According to Baratz, the two sides came up with a six-year, $38 million deal that includes $18 million in guarantees and bonuses. Williams will make $9 million this year, $23 million over three years and $27.5 million over four, none of which will count against Green Bay's salary cap, How much of the contract is truly guaranteed isn't known.

"When they were looking at Corey, they were considering the other contracts they had given guys like Cullen Jenkins ($4 million per year) and Ryan Pickett ($3.5 million per year)," Baratz said. "That was the kind of deal they were offering. We thought he could do better." Signing Williams to a long-term deal would have made it harder for the Packers to re-sign ends Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Pickett and Jolly, all of whom have contracts that expire after the 2009 season. "We were in position and felt comfortable in tendering Corey the franchise number," Thompson said. "We were less comfortable given our structure about a longer-term deal." Thompson said he didn't see a need to rush out and sign a replacement for Williams because of the depth the Packers have at the position. He refused to say that the onus was on 2007 first-round pick Justin Harrell to fill the void.

"I think we're more of a group thing," Thompson said. "It will be a combination."

Other Notable / Quotable Cory Williams statements --

Williams is now singing a much different tune than the one he had before the NFC championship game loss to the New York Giants. [Link]

“I love being here in Green Bay,” Williams said. “I love all my teammates. The atmosphere, just being here, there's nothing like it. The only thing I can say about that is I just want to be treated fair. If that means where I would have to take a little (pay)cut or whatever, like I said, I just want to be treated fair.”

“I've had a great ride here. If it comes to an end, one thing I can say when I leave here is that I had a great time. I felt like I was loved here, they cared about us, and hopefully wherever else I end up at, I hope I have the same feeling about them that I had about here in Green Bay."

Nice One Cory... you just mouthed-off yourself into Mike McKenzie and Jevon Walker territory... good ridance to ya!

1 CommentsPublished by PackerPundit
On Sunday, March 02, 2008 at 3:34 PM.